315 Semester journal of the IEEE Review the Constitution and the laws.” With reference to the scope of State competence over this material, it must be noted in the first place that Article 149.1.4 of the Spanish Constitution bestows the exclusive competence of the State over Defense and the Armed Forces. Having stated these precepts, the legal framework designed by Law 9/1968 of April 5 is interpreted, regarding official secrets, this law having been modified by the Law of October 7 of 1978. The aforesaid norm determines a set of positive measures to avoid the revelation of what should remain secret, establishing strict rules impeding the generalization of classification with a character of exceptional. Addressing the said limitation, Article 1 of the aforesaid Law regulates the principle of publicity in the action of State organs, subject to exceptions. According to this Article, State Organs shall be subject in their activities to the principle of publicity, in accord with the norms ruling their actions, except in those cases where the nature of the material itself causes it to be expressly declared “classified”, whose secret or limited knowledge is protected by the present Law. In addition, those materials declared to be so by Law shall have the character of secret without necessity of previous classification. It is worth emphasizing that Article 2 defines material susceptible to declaration as clas-sified. Specifically, as stated in this Law, a declaration as “classified materials” may be applied to matters, acts, documents, reports, data and objects, knowledge of which by unauthorized persons may damage or put at risk the security and defense of the State. From this general overview, the Organic Law of 5/2005, dated 17 November, on National Defense, has as its object to regulate National Defense and to define the bases of military organization in conformity with the principles established in the Constitution. All of this, as expressed in Article 2 of this regulatory text, with the object of articulating a defense policy having as its end the protection of the whole of Spanish society, of its Constitution, of the supreme values, principles and institutions consecrated within it, of the social and democratic State of Law, of the full exercise of rights and liberties, and of the guarantee, independence and territorial integrity of Spain. It has as its objective contributing to the preservation of international peace and security within the framework of the commitments undertaken by the Kingdom of Spain. The last part of this chapter quotes the concept of National Defense presented in Felipe Quero’s “Introduction to the Theory of National Security”2. Specifically, this is defined as that “General attitude of the nation, determined and decided to carry forward its collective project within the framework of the applicable international order, carrying out to this end such offensive and defensive actions as shall be indispensable—including those corresponding to legitimate victory over the aggressor—and expressly renouncing any initiative of subjugation or of the unjustified use of force.” 2 QUERO RODILES, Felipe. Introducción a la Teoría de la Seguridad Nacional Introduction to the Theory of National Security. Madrid: Ediciones Ejército Army Editions, 1989. Revista del Instituto Español de Estudios Estratégicos n.º 13 - Año: 2019 - Págs.: 307 a 328
Revista_IEEE_13
To see the actual publication please follow the link above